“The ground in winter holds a thousand lovely secrets.”

Carol Wall

Carol Wall & Her Book

Carol Wall’s first book, MISTER OWITA’S GUIDE TO GARDENING (Putnam, Amy Einhorn Books), tells the story of Carol’s unlikely friendship with Giles Owita, a gardener from Kenya, who comes to work in Carol’s yard, transforming both the yard and Carol’s life. Though Carol and Giles are quite different from each other, a caring bond grows between them. They both hold long-buried secrets which, when revealed, will cement their friendship forever.

The book was published to critical acclaim in March 2014. Carol’s work received early accolades in People Magazine, Good Housekeeping, USA Today, Oprah.com, and the New York Times Book Review, along with the coveted starred review in Publishers Weekly. But she was too sick to enjoy the fanfare of publication day. Her breast cancer had returned for the third time in 2012, as she was finishing the first round of edits on the manuscript. Carol died in December 2014, nine months after publication, without being able to make even one appearance to promote her book. One week after her death, MISTER OWITA’S GUIDE TO GARDENING was named one of the Top 10 Books of 2014 by USA Today and one of the Top 12 Books of 2014 by AARP.

Without her voice, the enduring messages of her book were in danger of dying also. Just weeks before her death, Carol told Phil, the youngest of the three Wall children, to “take care of our book”.

Dick Wall & His Tour

Dick Wall has driven over 100,000 miles to speak at more than 200 events in 29 states since 2014. His mission is simple: take care of Carol’s book. “She’d be much better at this than I am,” he told The Roanoke Times in an interview, adding, “I love to talk about her. I have to talk about her.” Over the course of his tour, Dick has come to realize that many groups want him to talk not only about the book, but his love story with Carol and his life after her death. He loves to tell audiences that “while the book is about two people who are close to death, it is not a book about cancer and suffering. It is a book about living.” He believes that Carol’s message is an enduring one that can help people “embrace life’s afflictions,” and often talks about how her words have helped him since her death.